Lesson 2: Crash-Proof ColdFusion: The Shield of Gondor
[CFL2M] How To Diagnose A Crash (& Avoid Future Crashes)
*Note: You're reading a lesson from our ColdFusion Legacy 2 Modernization E-Course [CFL2M]. Interested in getting the full course? Click here to sign up.
There’s nothing worse than having your app crash. Your CEO gets livid and they WANT IT FIXED NOW. Luckily, there’s a preventative solution to this stressful situation.
You need a tool to help you track down why your CF app is crashing and why it’s slow.
Like Frodo's journey through Middle Earth, it has its ups and downs, so well done for getting this far.
In this email, we’re going to explore the best ColdFusion Performance Monitoring tools.
[Also, quick thanks to those of you who read and replied to the last email. It was great to hear from you.]
Why use performance monitoring?
- 1) Avoid crashes
- 2) Minimize slowdowns
- 3) Reduce stress and anxiety about the potential of 1 and 2 happening
Sometimes we talk to people whose app is crashing once a day (!!), and their only solution is to reset the server. Then, five minutes later they cross their fingers and hope it doesn’t go down again.
When it crashes; you may have no idea why. It died, ran out of memory, or gave a 500 error. When you don’t know the cause, it’s very frustrating. Like trying to decipher the riddle of the door to Moria without remembering the Elvish word for ‘friend’..
Using CF performance monitoring enables you to diagnose the crash. When you learn WHY crashes happen, you can avoid them in the future.
It also helps you figure out where the problems in the code are, where is it leaking memory, where is it running slow, etc. It gives you visibility into where your codebase needs more work.
FusionReactor is the leading tool for monitoring CF apps. We love it and use it.
There’s also a built-in Adobe performance monitoring tool called PMT for both standard and enterprise. In my opinion, Adobe CF PMT is not as good as FusionReactor (which is a paid add-on), but it may be good enough for some. Lucee does not have a built-in performance monitor.
Both options serve to prevent crashes, avoid slowdowns, and increase visibility in code performance.
FusionReactor can be hosted in the cloud; PMT can not.
Aragorn Action Step: Download a free trial of FusionReactor. They currently offer a 14-day free trial. If you’re not the one making financial decisions at your company, schedule a meeting with whoever is and explain the benefits that FusionReactor can provide.
If you are using Adobe and prefer to use the built-in performance monitoring tool, download that.
Either tool will help you avoid crashes and untimely app slowdowns, both of which are very useful, especially when your users need to escape Ring Wraiths from Mordor in a hurry.
Best,
Michaela Light
PS Next lesson: How to establish a robust environment management strategy & how to minimize bugs.
